PETA urges Applebee's to alter poultry slaughter

Animal rights group PETA Thursday prodded
Applebee's International Inc. to move toward a more humane method for
slaughtering chickens.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), which has targeted
several restaurant companies recently over this issue, failed to garner more
than 5% of shareholder support for a shareholder resolution on the matter at
Applebee's annual meeting on Thursday, but vowed to continue the
fight.

PETA's wants Applebee's and other restaurant chains, including
McDonald's Corp. , to switch to controlled-atmosphere killing (CAK), a method
the group has said is already being used by some European
processors.

McDonald's has been studying the issue and Applebee's has
said it would be duplicative and expensive to also do such a study. Applebee's
said it is not opposed to CAK but believes it warrants "continued study and
review."

Under the CAK method, chickens receive a mixture of gas and
oxygen to render them unconscious before the slaughtering process begins. This
in contrary to the current US system where chickens are hung upside down and run
through electrified water baths to stun them before killing.

PETA
cited US Department of Agriculture reports as evidence that millions of chickens
annually are conscious through most if not all of the process.